As many as 24,300 rooftop solar power projects with a total capacity of 465.8 MWp have been installed and put into operation by early March, according to the Electricity of Vietnam (EVN).

The group said its National Load Dispatch Centre (NLDC) mobilized 1.8 kWh of electricity from renewable energy projects in the first two months of 2020, accounting for nearly 5 percent of the total power production.

Experts said with Vietnam’s big potential to develop rooftop solar systems, the number of rooftop solar projects in Vietnam is likely to be 5 times higher than the current figure.

Statistics from the NLDC show that the total electricity consumption in the last two months was 36.2 billion kWh.

Meanwhile, the load capacity in the period reached 35,000MW; and the average daily electricity consumption was 615 million kWh, up 7.5 percent against the same period of 2019.

However, the hydroelectricity output in the first two months was only 3.37 billion kWh, 2.19 billion kWh lower than the set plan.

Experts said coal and gas thermal power plants play an extremely important role in ensuring electricity supply in the dry season and the whole 2020 as well in the context that the water levels in hydropower reservoirs are much lower than those planned.